Two held for online fraud, hunt on for foreigner kingpin

Two persons from Manipur were arrested by the outer Delhi Police for allegedly duping people to the tune of several lakhs. They would hack into their online bank accounts and transfer the money to their bank accounts opened through forged documents, police said on Sunday.

Police say a foreign national, who is an expert in computer operations, is the mastermind of the racket and a hunt is on to nab him. They also suspect the involvement of bank officials.

"The way they were able to procure account details and open accounts indicated that either the process was shoddy or there was a connivance of a few officials," an officer said.

"We received many complaints of bank accounts being hacked. The most recent among them was received last week from one Banwari Lal who claimed that his account was hacked by someone and Rs 2 lakh were stolen," said Jaiswal.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the fraud was committed through the use of technology. The scrutiny of the criminals' bank accounts revealed that they were opened through forged documents.

"Investigators apprehended two of the accused from their home in Bawana following a tip-off. During interrogation, both of them confessed to the crime. They told us they were internet hackers and used to hack into online accounts by phishing," said an investigator.

After hacking the bank account, they would transfer the money to their fake bank accounts and withdraw it. The accused had been hired on commission and the entire racket was being run by a foreigner.